PV's 'Almost Perfect Person' features almost perfect
star
By Elizabeth Spear
Staff Writer, Torrance Daily Breeze
An almost perfect person doesn't exist, but an almost
perfect actor does as Dan Wolfe effortlessly glides through the
Palos Verde Players' staging of "An Almost Perfect Person."
What Wolfe brings to this decent comedy is a finely honed
performance that picks the play up right when it's about to fizzle.
In a play that focuses on a political candidate and her
campaign manager immediately after the votes have been tallied, Wolfe's
character, a married CPA named Jerry Leeds, is a breath of fresh air.
He's a real guy, one not well-versed or immersed in image.
Opposite him, the two cast members who portray the slick
and stiff candidate and big bucks businessman campaign manager do so capably
enough.
Tony Torrisi as Dan Connally, the campaign manager, is
a smooth mover, a guy who makes his living out of showmanship and calculated
maneuvers. Torrisi adeptly handles the part, though his persona is
on the demur side.
Christina Botek as Irene Porter, an attractive widow,
mother of two, lawyer and political candidate, adds to the production's
success, skillfully picking up the pieces after slightly stumbling on her
lines.
Director J.B. Books injects enough action into the play
to make it easy to watch. And Judith Ross' script is laden with humor
as the trio tangles up things in a real-life kind of way. Who's slept
with or sleeping with whom and where it's all leading provides some needed
mystery and intrigue.
Basically, though, it is Wolfe's performance that makes
this production work. With him, "An Almost Perfect Person" becomes
an entertaining, fun-to-watch comedy.
Rick Ivey's set design and Maxine Whittaker's set decoration
capture an Upper East side New York City apartment in 1977.
The only slight miscue stems from sound-effects coordination
being just a little off.
Otherwise PV Players has a winner here.
"An Almost Perfect Person" runs Friday, Saturday
and sunday evenings through June 6 at the theater in Torrance.
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